Digital surveying with GPS

In collaboration with Enexis Netbeheer, marXact and DiaFlow (part of SPIE Netherlands), BAM Energie & Water is now using UNI-GR1 GPS measuring sticks for measuring home connections to electricity, water, gas and media. Measuring with GPS is much more accurate and efficient. Enexis Netbeheer thus gets an even better picture of all cables and pipes in the ground. When digging in the future, this means less chance of hitting a cable or pipe. Resulting in less inconvenience for residents.

René Douma, Operations Manager BAM Energy & Water: "We can finally measure and plot home connections digitally with our UNI-GR1 GPS measuring sticks. Our engineers no longer have to use a tape measure. This is now done at the touch of a button. No more acquisition errors. It's great to be one step closer to 'very accurate' data and thus reduce excavation damage in the future. Another very positive step in terms of safety!"

Enthusiastic mechanics

BAM Energy & Water tested the UNI-GR1 GPS measuring sticks extensively. The result was enthusiastic technicians. They find the marXact GPS measuring sticks user-friendly and handy. They can immediately measure everything faster and more precisely, even in hard-to-reach places. There are no more deviations. And the measured data is immediately available digitally.

Bart Hollink, Process Manager BAM Energy & Water: "Normally, our engineers measure home connections manually. After establishing a zero point, they measure the location information of home connections with measuring tapes. This can be done more accurately. Our surveyors have been using GPS surveying sticks for measuring the main network for some time now. Using GPS for home connections is a logical step for us. This way we kill two birds with one stone: happy technicians and better quality data."

What happens to the measured data?

Through the Digital Cooperation Platform (DSP), network operators and contractors exchange data on underground infrastructure work with each other. Once the technician has measured the house connections with the marXact UNI GPS, he delivers the digital data via SPIE's DiaFlow drawing application and the DigiFlow program to the DSP.

Tommy van der Heijden, CEO and co-founder of marXact: "This mutual cooperation is actually how digital surveying should be, in our view. You enable the end user, in this case BAM Energy & Water, to choose the working method that works best for them. Working with tools that you quickly become familiar with is not only good for your own motivation, but also allows you to start generating data and completing surveying projects faster. That's what you see here, too."

Wim Rommens, Product Owner Connection Chain Enexis Netbeheer: "We warmly welcome innovations in the connection chain that increase safety, improve data quality and make the process more efficient. Because the locations of the electricity and gas pipelines are precisely measured in this way, the risk of excavation damage is reduced. In addition, this marXact GPS measurement data is so reliable that we can also make improvements to the other - hand-measured - data during data processing!"

KLIC! And the process is complete

Van der Heijden: "We at marXact recently developed our own KLIC viewer and added it free of charge to our own UNI-Connect surveying software. This allows users to immediately comply with the recently mandated directive to view KLIC data digitally at excavation sites. This feature is part of our goal to make digital surveying easy and affordable for anyone working in the field, helping them to comply with legislation and prevent excavation damage. So two birds with one (free) stone!"